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Liquor sales through the roof so far at Daytona Bike Week

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Daytona Bike Week is still going strong in Volusia County tonight, and some business owners said they may set records for the amount of alcohol they're selling.

Channel 9's Blaine Tolison got a closer look at the kind of money business owners are making and what's it taking to keep all those motorcyclists safe.

Thousands of bikers have been posting up on Main Street, cruising down the jam-packed road as onlookers line the streets, but more impressive may be the numbers behind the amount of alcohol the local establishments are pulling in.

“It's easy. It's easy to make money on liquor, because that's one of the things that will never go away,” said bar owner Eric Ignasiak.

One bar reportedly went through 200 to 300 cases of beer each day over the week, and that tally included only brand-name beers.

“Businesses putting in $100,000 for liquor, you know, to make two to three times that. You know, it always takes money to make money,” said Ignasiak.

One bar owner told Channel 9 his business goes through 30 to 50 bottles of vodka a day, which comes out to roughly 600 to 1,000 shots each day.

If that pace continues, the bar will sell as many as 10,000 shots during all of Bike Week.

Drinking is so much a part of Bike Week, the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce even brought in two nationally recognized moonshiners.

“Bike Week at Daytona Beach, I mean, does it get any better?” said moonshiner Josh Owens. “I mean, you know, if you're a biker, it's the place to be.”

But it's not the place to break the law. Police and deputies will be out in full force all week long, and they're advising bikers not to drink and ride.

“What we're looking for is the flagrant violators, the ones making too much noise, the ones who are intoxicated while driving, and disorderly conduct,” said Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson.